Flying taxi trend in China

Xpeng displays autonomous aircraft in Hunan province (China). Photo: Xinhue .

Chinese companies are preparing to reshape the future of transportation, betting big on flying cars and autonomous taxis as competition in the domestic electric vehicle (EV) market intensifies.

According to SCMP , high-end electric vehicle maker Xpeng will invest 3 billion yuan ( US$413 million ) in its electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) business this year. Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng believes that flying cars will be a bigger industry than electric cars in the next two decades.

“Although the number of low-altitude aircraft is only about 3-5% of current car sales, they account for 20% when considering total sales revenue,” Mr. He said at the China EV100 forum on March 29.

The company is building a new factory in Guangzhou and plans to reach an annual production capacity of 10,000 aircraft when the facility becomes operational in 2026, Mr. He said.

According to data from research firm Rho Motion, China sold 11 million electric vehicles in 2024, with annual growth of 40% compared to 2023, accounting for 65% of total electric vehicle sales globally.

However, due to high penetration in China, new EV sales growth could slow to 15-20% this year, according to Fitch analysts, while smart features are expected to become the main competitive point for manufacturers, instead of appearance as before.

Most companies are pinning their hopes on self-driving cars to boost sales as they compete with Tesla’s fully autonomous driving (FSD) feature. BYD, the world’s largest maker of hybrid and pure electric vehicles, announced its own God’s Eye self-driving system in February. The technology will be rolled out to its vehicles at no additional cost.

Besides flying cars, Xpeng previously said it would mass produce humanoid robots for the consumer market by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, BYD has launched a drone support system to provide consumers with more advanced features.

Deng Chenghao, vice president of Chongqing Changan Automobile, said this year will be “the year of intelligent driving technology.” However, the systems are not yet safe when automated, and still require some assistance from the driver.

Source: https://znews.vn/cong-ty-trung-quoc-mo-rong-dau-tu-vao-phuong-tien-moi-post1542286.html